It wasn’t enough for M. Night Shyamalan and Will Smith to create a sci-fi film. For After Earth, they patterned an entirely new world history (or at least paid some really geeky people to do it for them).

The film is set 1,000 years in the future, and most of mankind has moved on to another planet light-years away. “Nova Prime has been colonized by humans for about 200 years,” said After Earth screenwriter Gary Whitta during a Comic-Con panel for the film, which is scheduled for release next year. “Earth is just kind of a memory that is taught in history classes.”

Nova Prime looks a lot like Utah (because it’s filmed in Utah), and that’s where the story starts. Smith plays Cypher Rage, a general in a military unit called the Rangers, while his real-life son Jaden plays his fictional son Kitai. The younger Rage aspires to follow in his father’s footsteps and join the Rangers. When an errant asteroid damages their ship, it causes them to crash-land on the most inhospitable planet in the universe — Earth.

Separated during the crash, Kitai must battle his way across an aggressive and deadly planet to reach his injured father, who is in bad shape. The journey will take Kitai through jungle, desert, forest and probably a few Shyamalanesque plot twists.

Since its inception 42 years ago, Comic-Con International has been a celebration of fanboy culture. When geek became the new cool, it also worked as a marketing platform for Hollywood and video game makers. Now, it’s the place where the television industry comes to build buzz for new shows and reward the audiences of established ones.

More than 80 television series courted the crowds at Comic-Con last year with premieres, panels and promotional events. This year in San Diego, the numbers are just as high – and the visibility even greater.

“It’s become a tentpole for us,” says Richard Licata, executive vice president, communications, for NBC Entertainment and Universal Television, echoing the sentiments of many network and studio marketing and publicity heads. “It’s the Super Bowl of response.”

Timing has something to do with it; the dates of Comic-Con make it a perfect place to preview fall shows. Corralling the talent is also a breeze - television has no Sundance or Cannes, making Comic-Con one of the few places on the planet where a television writer is treated like a rock star by screaming thousands.

If Superman and Batman duked it out, who would win? The question put Man of Steel director Zack Snyder in a tough spot, since The Dark Knight Rises auteur Christopher Nolan is the guy who hired him to make the new Superman movie.

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Snyder and new Superman actor Henry Cavill showed off new Man of Steel footage Saturday that operates on the premise that “this is the first Superman movie,” Snyder said. “We respect the canon and we knew the comic book exists; the movies are their own thing. When we started, we had to act as if no film had been made. We approached it in our head as if we’re making a Superman movie for the first time.”

The clip teased an earnest origins story rooted in the heartland, where young Clark Kent grows up on an American-as-apple-pie farm and displays heroic powers as a child that makes him feel like an outcast. Later, the classic red cape waves heroically in the breeze and Superman soars into the heavens per standard iconography, but there’s also contemporary inflections when Superman mixes it up with military troops that look like they could have been airlifted straight out of Iraq or Afghanistan.

“A lot of times in the past, Superman has been this big blue Boy Scout up on a throne that nobody can really touch.”

Caped crusaders are out and proud this year at Comic-Con International. Even Superman and Batman at the Prism Comics booth wear snug Underoos, capes and chef’s aprons — but not much else — as they entertain passersby.

“It feels revolutionary,” says Scott Covert, decked out as Batman’s sidekick, Robin, at one of the convention’s many panels about gay culture and the comic book world. He flips the lip of his cape as he adds, “There’s more tolerance this year.”

Gay Geekdom celebrated last month when Marvel’s mutant superhero, Northstar, married his longtime partner, Kyle, in “Astonishing X-Men No. 51.” The day the issue was released, comic book shops nationwide, including L.A.’s Meltdown Comics, hosted commitment ceremonies, vow renewals or parties; and there was a legal same-sex wedding at Midtown Comics in Manhattan.

Also in June, DC Comics resurrected the original Golden Age Green Lantern, featuring Alan Scott as a gay man. Even Archie Comics’ All-American Riverdale was the site of a biracial, military-themed, same-sex wedding earlier this year.

A zombie infestation has broken out beyond the halls of the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con at nearby Petco Park and horror fans are invited to see if they can survive it. The experience is called The Walking Dead Escape, named for the popular comic book (and subsequent AMC TV series) “The Walking Dead.” In celebration of the comic’s 100th issue, participants can immerse themselves in what’s both an exhaustive and exhausting adventure that puts survival skills to the test.

The Walking Dead Escape not only requires a love for all things zombie, but also the stamina to make it through a grueling obstacle course while avoiding each walker’s touch and infection. Much like a real zombie apocalypse might be, this course is no easy task. Those who take on the challenge can expect commotion, panic, and startles. Moreover, survivors are expected to run, climb, slide, jump, dodge, duck, crawl nearly non-stop for at least 20-30 minutes. It may sound like a lot to expect out of paying participants – and it is – but as soon as the first zombie breaks loose and begins its hunt, survival instincts kick in and there’s no looking back.

OVERVIEW

The course has been specifically designed for participants with a wide range of abilities.

The world we know is about to end. An epidemic of apocalyptic proportions will sweep the globe causing the dead to rise and feed on the living. The only way to survive is to buy an Evac Pass, track the virus and get out before it is too late.

In a matter of months society will crumble and San Diego will be first of many cities to fall. Only a few will escape. Some won’t even try.

Director and Cast Interview from Comic-con ’11

Total Recall — Welcome to Rekall, the company that with one little implant can turn your dreams into real memories. For a factory worker named Doug Quaid (Colin Farrell), the mind-trip sounds like the perfect vacation from his ordinary existence. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man. With the line between fantasy and reality blurred and the fate of his world hanging in the balance, Quaid goes on the run to discover his true identity, his true love, and his true fate. Based on Philip K. Dick’s classic story “I Can Remember It for You Wholesale,” this new take on some of his most visionary ideas is directed by Len Wiseman and stars Colin Farrell, Kate Beckinsale, Jessica Biel, Bryan Cranston, and John Cho, all of whom will be appearing.- CCI